Tuesday, April 12, 2011

BOOK TWO (10) tulips, "sins", the inner she-demon

When Lila compares domestic "sins"--if they're comparable --she figures that splurging on hundreds of tulip bulbs because she really really wanted them (ignoring that her kids' summer camp registration was past due) stacks up pretty unfavourably against writing excessively hostile notes in her child's agenda.

Think about it: An angry housewife throws her "Maria" aspirations under the bus, if she's compelled to respond insultingly to a teacher's remarks (even to those teachers who wear ugly sweaters.)

While the housewife driven to goosebumps by 30% off at the nursery, seems rather more self-indulgent, and less motherly in her error.

Yet Lila might have a point, when she says that the mistake of being motivated by wanting to improve the view from the kitchen (cost be damned) deserves a harsher rebuke than the clawed written response of a mama bear.

After all, the housewife who writes a zinger of a note is a victim of her own inner she-demon, provoked by feeling pain on behalf of her child. While the other housewife, who rushes out in Birkenstock clogs to plant, will probably wind up with her kids underfoot this summer, since she spent on the bulbs, and missed the registration.

Translator's Note (On dignified detachment & pee around the toilet)

It must be admitted that this work begins and ends with mistranslation.It might be more of a transcription; writing his meditations into the text of my own (often rubber-gloved) life.

Marcus Aurelius Antonius Augustuswas co-Emperor (Pontifex Maximus) of the Roman Empire from 161-180. A "philosopher king" he is widely credited as being the last of the Five Good Emperors for exemplifying virtue, self-discipline, and inner tranquility. While on military campaign from 170-180, Aurelius wrote his Mediations; thoughts directed to himself, in the form of an elevated diary. The Meditations are profoundly moving and vastly wise. Aurelius' ethical reasoning, his balanced moral teaching, and his dignified detachment are widely acknowledged to be one of the most important pieces of writing outlining stoic philosophy. I encourage you to read the original. This is my copy, which you can't borrow.

But because most housework makes me angry, and raising children is intensely emotional, I'm thinking that if I translate his text (and philosophy) into terms bound up with my experience as a housewife, even if I have to wipe pee from around the toilet, I will learn how to be more stoic.

I want to find out if wisdom and depth can survive (or even be inspired by) the often tedious duties of day-to-day motherhood.

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